ÖAF Wien Austria

ÖAF

Logo ÖAF

Buses AUSTRO FIAT Austria

Austro FIAT

Austro Fiat Omnibus AFN 11-42 um 1930

Austro Fiat in Wenen werd in 1925 al overgenomen door MAN en werd toen de Östereichisches Auto Fabric ÖAF. Het merk heeft dus maar kort bestaan. ÖAF behandelen we een stuk later.

Austro Fiat Omnibus AFN Langversion für Post

Austro Fiat O25 der Oberösterreichischen Kfz.AG

Austro Fiat 3 achsiger Omnibus um 1925

Austro Fiat 3 ton

Austro Fiat 5 DN 120 A der Post & Telekom Austria

Austro Fiat Omnibus Sonerausführung für die Gemeinde Wien um 1925

  Austro-Fiat, Bussen, MAN, Oostenrijk, Verleden, ÖAF

Gräf & Stift was an Austrian manufacturer of automobiles, trucks, buses and trolleybuses, from 1902 until 2001, latterly as a subsidiary of MAN. Founded in 1902 by the brothers Franz, Heinrich and Karl Gräf, and the investor, Wilhelm Stift. Before the Second World War, the company was a well-known manufacturer of luxury automobiles, including the one that famously took part in the Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. By the 1930s Gräf & Stift had begun making trucks and buses, and it ceased car manufacturing in 1938. The company merged with Österreichische Automobil Fabriks-AG (ÖAF) in 1971, becoming ÖAF-Gräf & Stift AG, and later the same year was taken over by MAN AG. It continued in business as a subsidiary of MAN, and the Gräf & Stift name remained in use as an MAN brand for the Austrian market and for trolleybuses until 2001, when ÖAF-Gräf & Stift AG was renamed MAN Sonderfahrzeuge AG. It was located in Vienna, and the production facilities continue in use there, but no longer using the Gräf & Stift name.

1961-75 A Gräf & Stift double-decker bus in service in Vienna

The beginnings

The Gräf brothers started a bicycle service workshop in Vienna in 1893, quickly branching out into bicycle manufacturing. Their bicycles sold well, requiring the company to relocate to be able to increase capacity. While the bicycle business in Europe was booming, the brothers also saw potential in the fledgling automobile, and commissioned Josef Kainz to design one. The result was an unusual voiturette with by a one-cylinder De Dion-Bouton engine fitted in front of the vehicle, powering the front axle, built sometime between 1895 and 1898, according to various sources. It was thus arguably the world’s first front-wheel drive automobile, but it never saw mass production, with only one copy ever made, even though the technology was eventually patented in 1900. However, the voiturette remained in regular use until 1914 and was in working condition yet at the dawn of the 1970s.

Partnership with Willy Stift

In 1901, the brothers started cooperating with the Austrian businessman Wilhelm (Willy) Stift, an automobile importer who had already ventured into automobile manufacturing under the marque Celeritas. Celeritas automobiles were then assembled using French engines at the Gräf workshops, and in 1904 the gentlemen founded a joint company, named Gräf & Stift. Later, the company manufactured automobiles for the Spitz brand, owned by the automobile vendor Arnold Spitz. When Spitz went bankrupt in 1907, Gräf & Stift started building automobiles under their own brand.

The company concentrated on large, sophisticated and luxurious cars, which became popular with the Austrian aristocracy and even the Habsburg royal family. Apart from luxury cars, Gräf & Stift also became an important manufacturer of buses as well as tram bodies.

Assassination in Sarajevo

The 1911 Gräf & Stift Double Phaeton in which the Archduke Franz Ferdinand was riding at the time of his assassination on June 28, 1914

Main article: Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand

One of the Gräf & Stift luxury limousines, a Double Phaeton (engine no. 287), was bought by Count Franz von Harrach on 15 December 1910. Harrach’s car was fitted with a four-cylinder engine delivering 32 PS. In 1914 in Sarajevo, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife rode together with Harrach in this car, whenGavrilo Princip assassinated the Archduke. The assassination provoked a series of diplomatic manoeuvres that quickly led to declarations of war and the onset of the First World War.

Between the wars

1928 Gräf & Stift.

As the war broke out, Gräf & Stift started manufacturing trucks in order to meet wartime demand, which, together with buses and special vehicles, became the company’s main business and enabled it to flourish in a rather difficult time. Manufacturing of passenger cars was resumed only in 1920, with a 2-litre intermediate-size model, Typ VK. The VK remained in production until 1928 (since 1926 as the modernized VK 2), but already in 1921 Gräf & Stift returned to making luxury cars, with a range of large six-cylinder models available through the 1920s and early 1930s. In 1930, the company presented its first eight-cylinder car, the sumptuous Typ Sp 8, in 1937 superseded by the Sp 9.

To acquire necessary volume to assure the profitability of carmaking business, Gräf & Stift also launched smaller models, badged G 35, G 36 and G 8, powered by a 4.6-litre eight-cylinder engine. To cater for lower segments of the market, the company entered an agreement with Citroën, assembling one of the French automaker’s models as the MF 6 in 1935-36 (it had a 2.65-litre six-cylinder engine, with Gräf & Stift having had ceased the manufacturing of their own six-cylinders in 1935). Later, a joint-venture was started with Ford of Cologne, which provided for eight-cylinder Ford-licensed vehicles, badged Gräf-Ford V8, to be assembled by Gräf & Stift.

Neither of those ventures proved successful enough to assure the profitability of the passenger car business of Gräf & Stift, so the company decided to pull out of it. Its last own model was the rather modern C 12, fitted with a new twelve-cylinder engine, which was only made in very limited numbers in 1938, when the company ceased automobile production to concentrate on truck and bus manufacturing.

After World War II

Gräf & Stift remained in the truck and bus manufacturing business after 1945, continuing as a family-owned enterprise, being run by members of the Gräf family. The company built its first trolleybuses in 1948.

MAN subsidiary

A 1980-built Gräf & Stift trolleybus in service in 2003 in Romania

In 1971 the company merged with Österreichische Automobil Fabriks-AG (ÖAF) to form ÖAF-Gräf & Stift AG, which in turn was taken over by MAN AG the same year. ÖAF-Gräf & Stift AG continued manufacturing under that name, as a subsidiary of MAN. Still based in Vienna, it was focused on supplying trucks and buses for the Austrian market, mostly based on MAN designs, and additionally specialised in trolleybuses. It was MAN’s main trolleybus producer in the 1980s and 1990s, and these were sold under the Gräf & Stift name, with trolleybuses’ being supplied to several European cities, including Salzburg, Solingen and Bergen(Norway), among others.

As of 31 December 2000, ÖAF-Gräf & Stift AG had 897 employees, and its sales for the six-month period from 1 July 2000 through 31 December 2000 (the company’s “Short Fiscal Year 2000”) totalled €111 million.

Use of the longstanding Gräf & Stift name ended in 2001, when MAN renamed the company MAN Sonderfahrzeuge AG, as part of reorganizations following its June 2001 acquisition of Neoplan. This in turn became MAN Nutzfahrzeuge Österreich AG in 2004. In that year, MAN built a new plant on Gräf & Stift’s original site in the Liesing district of Vienna and continues to be the biggest employer in the area.

ÖAF

ÖAF Logo

Österreichische Automobil-Fabrik

Type	Subsidiary of MAN SE
Industry	Automotive
Founded	1907
Headquarters	Floridsdorf, Austria
Products	vehicles
Website	Official Website

ÖAF is an initialism for Österreichische Automobil-Fabrik, previously known as Österreichische Austro-Fiat, an Austrian (Austro-Hungarian) car and truck manufacturer.

 Austro-Fiat

ÖAF was created by FIAT in 1907 and is now part of the German MAN group. The manufacture of automobiles began in the new plant built for the occasion in Vienna in 1908, while the number was only 50 employees. A truck of 4 tonnes, similar to the Italian Fiat model was manufactured from 1911. It was originally Austro-Fiat, which during the First World War began to develop their own products.

In 1925 the Austro-Fiat brand expired and the company became Osterreichische Automobil Fabrik AG, under the abbreviation ÖAF, with preservation of the trademark filed earlier. Also in 1925, a separate company took over sales of Italian FIAT cars, and Austro-Fiat became affiliated with Austro-Daimler and Puch. The last private car, Type 1001A, was different from the earlier Type 1001, having 34 bhp (25 kW) engines and conventional rear axles.

The latest model Fiat’s truck was TS 1924, equipped with a 45 hp (34 kW) Fiat engine. The company began production of other models in Austria, which has enabled the company to begin developing its own models. The most popular submitted in 1925 was the AFN light truck AFN with 1.75 tons of payload. This truck used a 42 hp 4 Cylinder Fiat engine 2850 cc, it also used gimbals and real tires, not solid tires, which allowed for a speed of 65 km/h. In 1928, the AF2 appeared and the following year a bus called the Austro-Fiat-1001. It is from this time that the company discontinued the manufacture of passenger cars to concentrate on commercial vehicles, trucks, vans and buses. This allowed the AFL/AFY to be manufactured from 1930 to 1937.

MAN acquisition

Austrian Army ÖAF-sLKW truck

In 1938, when Austria was annexed by the Third Reich, German MAN obtained the majority of shares owned by Fiat in ÖAF, reducing the Italian firm’s share to 15%. ÖAF had begun equipping some of its trucks with diesel engines from MAN in 1934.

1955 ÖAF

1955 ÖAF

1955 ÖAF

1955 ÖAF

After the Second World War, the Floridsdorf factory was in the Russian zone and the plants were used for Russian reparations. In 1955, ÖAF was released from these payments and the factory began producing trucks again. They went to Austria to build military trucks but the Austrian army eventually selected rival Steyr for its famous Pinzgauer. The Tornado was ÖAF’ s challenger, best-selling truck in Austria.

In 1970, the company was privatized again; MAN then let it merge with Gräf & Stift, out of which ÖAF Gräf & Stift arose which in 1971 was fully taken over by MAN.

Vehicles

ÖAF Tornado 19-230

• 
• ÖAF Tornado 16-192 with Trilex-Felgen
• ÖAF Tornado 19-186
• ÖAF Tornado 19-192
• 

  ÖAF Tornado 9256

• 

  ÖAF Husar

• 

  1982 MAN with ÖAF-Grille

• 

  1977 ÖAF light wheeled tank

  

  100 jahre ÖAF

  

  ÖAF Tornado Racing Team

  

  Futher wit Gräf & STift

1907 Gräf und Stift 18-32 PS

1911 Gräf & Stift 40 HP Bois de Boulogne Tourer France

1911 Gräf & Stift Double Phaeton in which the Archduke Franz Ferdinand

was riding at the time of his assassination on June 28, 1914

1913 Graf und Stift

1916 Graf und Stift М16

1918 Gräf & Stift Dolomitenwagen-bus

1921 Gräf & Stift Model

1922 Gräf und Stift 7.7 Litre 110 bhp SR4

1923 Gräf & Stift, Brandweer

1923 graf-stift-spoormaker

1924 Gräf & Stift SP

1926 Gräf und Stift S3 Coupe de Ville

1927 Gräf & Stift VK

1928 gräf & stift feuerwehr mannschaftswagen

1931 Gräf & Stift SP 5

1931 Gräf und Stift SP8 Pullman Limousine

1932 Gräf und Stift SP8 Sport Coupe

1935 Gräf & Stift SP 8 Sport-Phaeton 4 portes

1935 Gräf & Stift

1936 Gräf & Stift SP 8

1936 Gräf und Stift SP8, the Rolls-Royce of Austria 5,9ltr motor

1936 Graf und Stift V6M

1937 Gräf & Stift V 6 Bus © Holger Erdmann

1938 Gräf & Stift Omnibus

1938 Gräf & Stift V 6 D 4×2 bus, 39k WW2 photo

1939 ÖAF Bus 3ton

1939-gräf & Stift-c-12

1939 Gräf & Stift LKW 2

1940 Gräf & Stift  model, 76k photo?

AFTER THE SECOND WORLD WAR

1948 (Gräf & Stift-BBC) mit Gräf & Stift-Anhänger

1948 Gräf & Stift Alte LKW © Ralf Christiaan Kunkel

1948 Gräf & Stift

1949 Gräf & Stift

1949 Gräf & Stift  OGW-120 (M 649)

1949 Gräf & Stift 120 OGW 6cyl 7220cc

1949 Gräf & Stift 120 OGW

1950 Gräf und Stift 7860

1951 Gräf & Stift SP8

1951 Gräf & Stift Feuerwehr

1952 Gräf & Stift LKW

1953 Gräf & Stift 145FON

1953 Gräf & Stift 145FON

1953 Gräf & Stift Österreichische Post

1954 Gräf & Stift LZT 4

1955 Öaf busse

1955 Öaf busse

1955 Öaf busse Nostalgie Reisen

1956 Gräf & Stift Fahrzeuge

1956 Gräf & Stift KVT 9

1956 Gräf & Stift ZAFD-240, Hiab 1

1956 gräf-stift-busse-oldtimer

1956 ÖAF Tornado 19-192 a

1956 ÖAF Tornado an die arbeit

1956 ÖAF HA 2-90 Husar

1957 ÖAF 6 D 135

1957 ÖAF Tornado Pritschenkipper © C. Thieler

1958 ÖAF in Montenegro

1958 ÖAF Tornado Truck

1958 Gräf en Stift

1958 Graf und Stift LAVT-9F 1, 4×4

1958 Gräf&Stift L200 6×6

1958 Graf und Stift ZAFD-240 36, 6×6

1958 gräf & stift tanker

1959 ÖAF Tornado 19-186

1959 Graf und Stift ZA-200 1, 6×6

1960 Gräf & Stift Doppeldecker Type DD-2FU

1960 ÖAF-Tornado-Pritschenkipper-dkbraun-Pr-rot-Schinko © J. Thiele

1960 Gräf & Stift Tanker

1960 gräf-stift-busse-oldtimer

1961-75 A Gräf & Stift double-decker bus in service in Vienna

1962 graef-und-stift-niger-africa

1962 Gräf & Stift 145-FON 37 sitze

1962 Gräf-stift-busse-oldtimer

1963 ÖAF bus-met-bak

1965 Gräf & Stift KF230-36 met Mercedes motor

1966 gräf & stift lkw © NINJA

1966 Gräf en Stift

1967 Gräf & Stift

1968 Gräf & Stift K230

1968 ÖAF Husar in Tatra Rally

1968 ÖAF НА-2-90 Husar, 4×4

1968 ÖAF Husar Expeditionsmobil

1969 Gräf & Stift OSU 155-46 Linienbus ex Stadtwerke Wien © O. Nordsieck

1969 Gräf & Stift OSU-155-46

1969 Gräf & Stift U7-OSU 155-46 (M 797)

1970 Buspost Gräf & Stift OHL 150 © Eduard Erhart

1970 Graf und Stift OLA-210 54, 4×4

1970 MAN with ÖAF-Grille

1970 ÖAF Österreichische Automobil Fabriks-AG

1970 ÖAF-26-260-Pritschenkipper-graubeige-Ch-rot-Ebner © C. Thiele

1970 ÖaF-FE32460thelen

1904-71 Gräf & Stift

1972 ÖAF Tornado 19-192

1972 ÖAF

1973 Gräf & Stift Steyr LU 200 M11

1976 ÖAF swehrtransport silvretta

1977 ÖAF 26.240FDA bowser , 6×6

1977 ÖAF light wheeled tank

1980 Austrian Army ÖAF-sLKW truck

1980 Gräf & Stift Steyr LU 200 M11 (M 1431)

1980 Gräf & Stift trolleybus in service in 2003 in Romania

1980 Gräf-Stift-GU230-Gelenkbus © O. Nordsieck

1981 Gräf & Stift MAN GU 230-54 Gelenkbus © W. Nordsieck

1982 ÖAF 20.320G1 (20.320VFAE), 6×6

1984 Gräf & Stift ÜH 270 M 10

1986 Graf and Stift Oostenrijk

1988 Gräf & Stift GS GE 152 M18

1999 Gräf & Stift Austria

1999 Graf and Steyr NL205 Oostenrijk

2000 Graf&Stift and Steyr NG235 M18 Oostenrijk

2001 ÖAF 32.403VFAEG (SX2000), 8×8 Bridge builder

ÖAF Logo on ÖAF Tornado 16-192

2002 Graf and Siemens NL243 Oostenrijk

2005 ÖAF Gräf & Stift MAN NGE 152 M17

ENNND

NORTHERN COUNTIES MOTOR and ENGENEERING CO Buses England UK

Northern Counties Motor and Engineering Company

A 1972 example of the SELNEC standard body shown in later GMT livery

Northern Counties Motor and Engineering Company was a manufacturer of bus bodywork located in Wigan Lane, Wigan, in North West England.

Overview

Traditionally buses in Britain have consisted of a chassis upon which a separate body was constructed, typically by a different manufacturer. This allowed operators to specify a vehicle that suited their particular requirements. Chassis manufacturers in Britain included Leyland, Daimler, AEC, and Guy (all now defunct). Having selected a chassis, an operator would also specify a particular engine and this assemblage would be transported to a bodybuilder to manufacture the bodywork. Northern Counties was a mid-size bodybuilder with a strong reputation and loyal client base. It was bought out and subsequently closed in 2005 by Alexander Dennis.

History[edit]

A Volvo Ailsa formerly of Cardiff Busbodied by Northern Counties

Northern Counties Motor and Engineering Company Limited was founded in Wigan in 1919 by Henry Lewis. The Lewis family remained owners of the company until it was bought out over seventy years later. As was common at the time, early products were bodywork for private automobiles. By the early 1920s the private automobile work had ceased and the manufacture of bodywork for service buses commenced. Bodywork was for both single-deck and double-deck vehicles. Very few coaches were produced.

During the Second World War, Northern Counties was authorized by the government to produce bus bodies to a utility specification, mainly using steel-framed construction.

Northern Counties established a loyal client base and reputation for quality construction in the post-war years. Notable clients included local operators SHMD Board, Manchester Corporation, and Lancashire United. Further afield, Barton Transport and Southdown Motor Services were among a number of regular customers.

In 1967 another bus body builder, Massey Brothers Ltd, located in nearby Pemberton, was acquired and became a part of the Northern Counties operations. The Massey factory was retained and used as a paint-shop and for final completion of bodywork assembled at Wigan Lane.

The Transport Act of 1968 merged the municipal corporations of Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Oldham, Stockport, Rochdale, Bury and Stalybridge, Hyde, Mossley and Dukinfield Joint Board (SHMD Board). The resulting conglomerate was known as the Southeast Lancashire Northeast Cheshire Passenger Transport Authority, commonly known as SELNEC. SELNEC was faced with a fleet of 2500 vehicles consisting of a wide variety of types and manufacturers, reflecting the preferences of their former municipal owners. Northern Counties worked closely with SELNEC to develop a standard bus for fleet replacement.

The Local Government Act 1972 came into effect on 1 April 1974. This reorganization added Wigan Corporation Transport to SELNEC to create the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive. Greater Manchester PTE was the largest bus operator outside of London until privatization in the late 1980s. A large proportion of Northern Counties production after this time was for the Greater Manchester fleet.

The Foden-NC delivered to Potteries Motor Traction in 1978

In 1975 the company collaborated with Foden Ltd, a well-known manufacturer of commercial vehicles, to produce a semi-integral double-deck vehicle intended to compete with chassis manufacturer Leyland. Leyland had merged with traditional rival Daimler and was experiencing production and quality problems. In the event, only seven Foden-NCs were produced, going to Greater Manchester PTE, West Midlands PTE,West Yorkshire PTE, Derby City Transport and Potteries Motor Traction.

The 1980s and 1990s were challenging years for the British bus industry, with the privatization of publicly owned operators, deregulation of routes and the reduction and subsequent elimination of the Bus Grant, a Government grant that paid for a large proportion of the cost of new vehicles. As a result, the purchase of new bus vehicles fell sharply as operators contended with the brave new world of competition, and mini-buses became the vogue. This fall in orders was combined with increased competition from overseas manufacturers.

A 1998 Palatine II bodied Volvo Olympian of Go North East

Northern Counties reputation and engineering skills saw it survive these difficult times and become a major supplier once again as demand picked up in the mid-1990s. In May 1995, it was purchased for £10 million by the Henlys group, owner of Plaxton. The Northern Counties name was dropped in 1999 and vehicles were badged as Plaxton.

In 2001 Henlys became part of a joint venture with the Mayflower group, owner of bodybuilder Alexander and chassis manufacturer Dennis. The joint venture was known as TransBus, and vehicles were badged using the TransBus name.

After the failure of the Mayflower Group in 2004, TransBus was sold to a private group of investors and became Alexander Dennis. The former Northern Counties facility was closed by Alexander Dennis in January 2005.

Products

• Palatine (double-deck)
• Paladin (single-deck)
• Prestige (low-floor single-deck)
• President (low-floor double-deck)

Plaxton (Northern County) Prestige

Plaxton Prestige Northern Counties Prestige
Plaxton Prestige-bodied DAF SB220
An Arriva North West Plaxton Prestige interior
Overview
Manufacturer	Northern Counties Plaxton
Body and chassis
Doors	1 or 2 doors
Floor type	Low floor
Chassis	DAF SB220 Volvo B10BLE
Powertrain
Engine	DAF LT1160 Volvo
Transmission	ZF
Dimensions
Length	Option
Width	Option
Chronology

The Plaxton Prestige is a low-floor single-deck bus body built by Plaxton at the Wigan factory of its Northern Counties subsidiary, and at its main Scarborough factory, during the latter half of the 1990s.

The Prestige was mostly built on DAF SB220 chassis, although small numbers were built on Volvo B10BLE chassis. Several of the DAF vehicles were LPG-powered; gas tanks were located on the roof. Arriva was a major purchaser of the Prestige, with a number for London and for provincial areas, all on DAF chassis. It was only a short term affair, however, being in favour of its sister, the Pointer.

In Plaxton’s body numbering system, the letter H identified the Prestige, although not all Prestiges received a Plaxton body number (early examples being numbered in the Northern Counties series).

At one stage, the Prestige was provisionally given the name Paladin LF. Northern Counties’ contemporary step-entrance single-deck body was the Paladin, and LF would have stood for low floor. However, the name Prestige (which had earlier been briefly used for an export variant of the Plaxton Excalibur) was given to the model instead.

Gallery

• 

  Arriva Southern Counties Plaxton Prestige Rear, in Tunbridge Wells, Kent.

• 

  Stagecoach Teesside Plaxton Prestige, in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire.

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  Carousel Buses Plaxton Prestige, in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire.

• 

  Go North East Plaxton Prestige, inNewcastle.

  Plaxton President

  Plaxton President
  A Plaxton President owned by Arriva North West.
  Interior of Arriva North West’s Plaxton President
  Overview
  Manufacturer	Plaxton/TransBus/Alexander Dennis
  Body and chassis
  Doors	1 or 2 door
  Floor type	Low floor
  Chassis	Dennis Trident 2 Volvo B7TL DAF DB250
  Powertrain
  Engine	Cummins C-series/ISCe (Dennis Trident 2) Volvo D7C (Volvo B7TL) DAF (DAF DB250)
  Transmission	Voith/ZF
  Chronology

  

  Nearside of a First LondonPresident.

  

  Rearside of a Lothian BusesPresident.

  The Plaxton President was a double-decker bus body built at Northern Counties plant in Wigan, England and branded as a Plaxtonproduct for its main production run. It was unveiled in 1997 and built between 1999 and 2005. When Plaxton became part of TransBus International, the body was sold under the TransBus name; then becoming the Alexander Dennis President. The President was built on the Dennis/TransBus Trident, the DAF DB250 and the Volvo B7TL chassis.

   

  Features

  The body was designed to compete with the Alexander ALX400 body, and had neat rectangular front headlights below a large front windscreen. From the side, it can be easily recognised by the different depths of windows on the lower deck; however, this is less apparent with newer bonded-glazed models. Seating varied according to the chassis and specification. TfL models were typically built with 41 seats upstairs, and 23 downstairs, with a centre exit door. Early TfL versions also had the staircase moved to the centre of the bus, although this was later changed to the standard position of just behind the driver.

  In London

  There is an enormous fleet of buses serving London, UK, with the result that if one bus was popular, they were built in big numbers.

  London Central/General had 469 President-bodied buses, numbered PVL1-419/PDL1-50. However new deliveries have seen some Go-Ahead London Central/General Presidents being withdrawn and sold to a variety operators outside the capital – and outside the Go-Ahead Group more generally. Metroline have their TP, TPL, VP and VPL classes, all President-bodied, which number in excess of 450. Arriva London North have a batch on DAF chassis, unusual given the numbers of Volvos and Tridents with President bodies.

  Beyond London

  Outside London the Presidents are less common, however some operators have built up substantial numbers of them.

  Lothian Buses were the largest operator of Presidents outside London with approximately 200 purchased from June 1999 to June 2004. Apart from seven examples on Volvo B7TL chassis Lothian’s examples are all Dennis Tridents including some high capacity 11m examples. Since 2010 Lothian began withdrawing their earliest model Presidents from frontline service. Some have received an open top conversion for Lothian’s sightseeing subsidiaries and others have been sold on for further service with various other bus operators.National Express West Midlands, formerly Travel West Midlands, are the second largest operator of Presidents outside London with 102 examples new from Autumn 1999 to Summer 2000 all of which have Volvo B7TL chassis and were internally refurbished in 2007-08.

  Go-Ahead Group companies outside London also have Presidents in substantial numbers. Brighton & Hove have the largest allocation with 36 on Dennis Trident chassis purchased in March/April 2001. This was followed by Go North East who took 15 in November 2001 again on Dennis Trident chassis although 8 of these transferred to Go-Ahead’s Oxford Bus Company subsidiary in 2006. Finally Southern Vectis purchased 7 Presidents on Volvo B7TL chassis in September/October 2002, albeit before they were taken over by Go-Ahead.

  Stagecoach took over 40 low-height Presidents on Dennis Trident chassis in the early/mid 2000s. These were originally allocated to the Cambus,Manchester and Oxfordshire subsidiaries – although they’ve since been transferred to other subsidiaries within Stagecoach. They were originally intended to have had Alexander ALX400 bodies – Stagecoach’s standard double deck body, but were switched to Presidents due to quicker build times.

  East Yorkshire Motor Services are another fairly major President fleet with 36 examples on Volvo B7TL chassis. 30 of these were for the main East Yorkshire fleet with the other 6 for their Finglands subsidiary in Manchester.

  Smaller orders include Arriva which purchased 20 on Volvo B7TL chassis for its Arriva Yorkshire subsidiary, the Blazefield Group who took 19, 16 forBurnley & Pendle and 3 for Yorkshire Coastliner, and independent based operators like Pete’s Travel, The Mayne Group, Blue Bus of Bolton,Hedingham Omnibuses, North Birmingham Busways and Liverpool Motor Services, although with the exception of Hedingham these companies have since been taken over by larger groups within the British bus industry.

  Replacement

  The Mayflower Group, the parent company of TransBus International, went into administration in March 2004. It was bought out in May 2004 by a consortium including Brian Souter, the owner of the Stagecoach Group and was renamed Alexander Dennis. A programme of restructuring began within Alexander Dennis which, at the time, saw the Plaxton coach division divested and the TransBus product range rationalised. In turn a decision was taken to close the former Northern Counties plant in Wigan and phase out the President in favour of the Falkirk-built ALX400. The final Presidents were built at the Wigan plant in January 2005 and both it and the ALX400 would be phased out in favour of the semi-integral Alexander Dennis Enviro400 which took over from end of 2005. The Enviro400 has elements of the ALX400 and President in its design.

Northern Counties Palatine

Northern Counties Palatine
A Warrington Borough Transport bus with Northern Counties Palatine bodywork.
Lower Saloon of a Northern Counties Palatine Leyland Olympian
Overview
Manufacturer	Northern Counties
Body and chassis
Doors	1 or 2 door
Floor type	Step entrance
Powertrain
Engine	Cummins & Gardner
Transmission	Voith & ZF
Chronology

The Northern Counties Palatine is a step-entrance double-decker bus body built by Northern Counties of Wigan, UK. It was built mainly onLeyland Olympian and Volvo Olympian chassis, although some were also built on DAF, Volvo B10M Citybus and Scania chassis. Two variants existed, the Palatine I (known as “Palatine” before 1992) which had a flatter windscreen, and the Palatine II (launched in 1993) which had a curved windscreen resembling that of the single-decker Northern Counties Paladin.

MTL were a notable buyer, a batch of high-specification Palatine IIs entered service in 1996 on the ‘Cross River’ services through the Mersey Tunnels. Another batch of 22, branded as ‘The Millennium Fleet’ began operating on Merseyside in 1998.

It was superseded by the Plaxton President body.

Variants

• 

  A Volvo Olympian with Northern Counties Palatine I bodywork, operated by Go North East.

• 

  A Volvo Olympian with Northern Counties Palatine I bodywork, operated by Arriva Southern Counties.

• 

  A Volvo Olympian with Northern Counties Palatine II bodywork, operated by Go North East.

• 

  A DAF DB250 with Palatine II bodywork, new to Metrobus in 1995, converted to an open top bus for the Cambridge City Sightseeing Tour

  Northern Counties Paladin

  Northern Counties Paladin
  A Paladin body with the barrel-shaped front and quarterlights, on Volvo B10B chassis.
  Overview
  Manufacturer	Northern Counties
  Body and chassis
  Doors	1 or 2
  Floor type	Step entrance

  The Northern Counties Paladin, also badged as the Plaxton Paladin towards the end of production, is a step-entrance single-deck bus body built by Northern Counties of Wigan, UK, between 1991 and 1998.

  The Paladin was built on several different chassis types:

  • Volvo B10M
  • Volvo B10B
  • Volvo B6
  • Dennis Dart
  • Dennis Lance
  • Dennis Falcon
  • Scania L113
  • DAF SB220
  • Leyland Atlantean (rebodies)

  Three different shapes of windscreen were fitted to Paladins. One was of gentle “barrel shaped” curvature, with deep quarterlights. This was used throughout the production run, being fitted to both the earliest vehicles and to the last batches built. An upright “wrap-around” screen was used on the majority of midi-sized Paladin bodies (on Dennis Dart and Volvo B6 chassis), whilst a double-curvature screen was fitted to some Scania and DAF full-sized vehicles.

  Some bodies built towards the end of production were given Plaxton body numbers, in which the Paladin was identified by the letter G.

  http://www.old-bus-photos.co.uk/?cat=254